Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch issued a report on the human rights situation in the Polisario-run refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, which cited a number of disturbing examples of abuse and violations at the hands of the Polisario. In an interview with Maghreb Arab Presse, Mahjoub El Haiba, Morocco’s Interministerial Delegate for Human Rights, raised concerns over the politicization of the report:

Morocco on Thursday slammed the latest report of Human Rights Watch (HRW) as “biased” and “absolving Algeria from its responsibilities”.

This report “is marked by its bias and lack of neutrality, while maintaining the amalgam by absolving Algeria from its responsibilities and putting Polisario on an equal footing with Morocco on the international scene”, Communication minister, government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi said at a press briefing following the weekly cabinet meeting.

The report has ignored all calls from UN decision-making bodies about a population census in Tindouf camps, El Khalfi said, stressing that “this census shall be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized standards by UN bodies in charge of such operations.”

He noted that the HRW report “has distorted and truncated the history of this chronic and artificial conflict. As a result, the report fails to meet the requirements of professionalism and the accepted criteria for the establishment of a report that accurately reflects the reality of human rights in Tindouf…[Full Story]